Leaving your 9 to 5 job to become a freelancer and pursue your dreams sounds pretty exciting.

There’s the freedom to pick your own hours and even work different days according to your schedule. You also have more control over the people you work for.

It’s no wonder that around 35% of the Americans are currently pursuing freelance work.

However, making the switch to freelancing does come with a few challenges to consider. There’s more to it than just handing in your notice and starting to work in your PJs. You need a strategy for how you’re going to stay productive and avoid potential issues.

Here are some of the mistakes you need to avoid making as a freelancer.

1.   Taking on More Work Than You Can Handle

The more work you do as a freelancer, the more money you make. Since it’s difficult to know whether you’re always going to have a steady stream of jobs to do, when work is available, it’s tempting to take on as much as possible.

Doubling up on possible income when available can sometimes be a good way to prepare for anything. However, it’s important to ensure you’re not taking on more than you can handle. Overworking yourself or stretching your schedule too thin often leads to problems like missed deadlines.

There’s also the risk that if you’re over-working, you’re not giving enough time and attention to any single project. Then, the quality of your work suffers. Poor results will start to upset your customers, and you will acquire negative reviews and have less word-of-mouth promotion.

2.   Arguing with the Client

As a freelancer, you have more control over who you work with. If you don’t like a particular client, or you don’t think you’d be comfortable with their project, you don’t have to take on the work. However, any customer you interact with needs the right treatment.

When connecting with clients, you need to choose your words and your actions carefully.

Telling everyone that you know better and refusing to take feedback into account doesn’t make you look like a thought leader. Instead, it’s just another example of bad customer service.

Take the time to listen to your clients and consider their concerns. Don’t be afraid to introduce solutions to any problems they might have, but remember that you are working for them at the end of the day.

3.   Not Charging Enough

If you’re just getting started in the freelance world for the first time, you might think it’s a good idea to keep your price requests as low as possible.

Bargain prices are a good way to attract customers who aren’t convinced that you can deliver results yet. But, once people start to get used to your low prices, they’ll expect to get them long-term.

Anyone that your clients refer to you will also expect the same prices. This means that it’s much harder to scale up your costs to reflect what you’re worth over time.

Instead of trying to jump in at a low cost and work your way up, examine the market and see what kind of prices are typical for someone in your industry. Try to choose something in the mid-range if you’re not comfortable charging too high.

Make sure that the fees you charge are enough to support your freelance journey.

4.   Not Having a Backup Plan

There are various kinds of backup plans you might need as a freelancer. First, you need to figure out what you’re going to do if your new venture doesn’t work. After that, it’s essential to consider how you can defend the work that you’re doing every day.

Backup plans also apply to your tech stack. Whether you’re a software developer, graphic designer, or writer, there’s a good chance that you’re storing a lot of information every day on your computer.

That makes your computer your bread and butter, and the information crucial to the continuity of your business. Ignoring taking precautions to protect yourself against issues is never a good idea.

If your system crashes and you can’t send your work within the deadline, you might lose the client.

Thus, treat your hardware and software like an enterprise would. Educate yourself on best practices. If malware or cyberattacks come your way, you need to have the right solutions in place.

Recent statistics on cyberattacks and the cost of downtime are worrying. Downtime means that you don’t just lose your work; you could also suffer a ruined reputation and less trust from your customers.

5.   Poor Work-life Balance

Poor work-life balance is one of the most common problems that freelancers have. It’s easy to assume that you’ll have more time for life when you’re working the hours that you choose.

However, the truth is often the opposite. When you’re a freelancer, you’re continually searching for new clients and new opportunities.

Many freelance workers spend more hours on their job than anyone else. If you’re not careful, your career can end up taking over your life. When this happens, you suffer from problems like excess stress, bad health, and even relationship issues.

Make sure that you’re not overworking yourself and put plenty of time aside for recharging.

Pick a time to close down your computer each day and leave the room without looking back. Don’t let freelancing become the only thing you do. It’s essential to care for yourself.

Mastering the Freelance Journey

Getting used to a freelance lifestyle isn’t always as simple as it seems. If you want to excel in this environment, you need to have a good plan of action in mind.

Figure out how you’re going to protect your work-life balance and earn enough money without burning out will give you direction and peace of mind.

What’s more, don’t be afraid to adapt your working styles and learn as you go. The more time you spend in your new career, the more you’ll learn about what you need to do to stay one step ahead of the curve.

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Ashley Wilson is a content creator, writing about business and tech. She has been known to reference movies in casual conversation and enjoys baking treats for her husband and their two felines, Lady and Gaga. You can get in touch with Ashley via Twitter.

10 Reasons to Consider Becoming a Freelancer

In today’s uncertain economy, one thing is certain: more people are freelancing than ever before. Fifty-seven million people are now freelancing in the U.S. — a whopping 35% of the American workforce. Meanwhile, the U.K.’s seen a 14% growth in freelancers over the past decade, and the number of freelancers increased by 43% in Europe in 2013 alone.

Why are all of these people turning to freelance work? And more importantly, should you consider freelancing yourself? Here are ten benefits of freelancing that you should consider when you decide whether to make the leap into this increasingly popular way of working.

1. You can work wherever you want

Workforces across the world are retreating from offices to the safety of their own homes, and this might be the foremost point in favor of freelancing on everyone’s mind right now. New remote work policies are getting quite a bit of attention these days in the media — partly, of course, due to COVID-19, but also because teleworking is beneficial to workers’ mental health and work-life balance. And freelancers get this perk automatically, as remote work comes part and parcel with freelancing. 

The freedom that comes with location independence shouldn’t be underestimated. Want to work outside in the sunlight every once in a while? You can suddenly do that. Not a fan of wearing suits on a daily basis? That won’t be needed when you’re working from home. Hate that you have to spend $7 every day on either gas or metro tickets to get to your office in the first place? Location independence eliminates the commute. Which brings us to…

2. Zero commute

As Benek Lisefski wrote on The Startup, “What’s one of the main productivity killers across the globe? Commuting. Who likes commuting? Nobody.” Mega-commutes (90+ minutes) are becoming increasingly common in the United States, and the Washington Post once calculated that the average worker throws away 216 hours in a year just on the commute. That’s nine whole days — more than a week of your life spent taking the metro, riding the bus, or stuck in your car.

Freelancing enables you to save perhaps the most precious resource of all: time. Imagine waking up and being able to work a minute later. You would never have to factor your commute time into your morning routine ever again — and you could spend those nine days doing something that’s actually meaningful to you, whether that’s a hobby you’d like to perfect or spending extra time with your family.  

3. Flexible hours and schedule

Speaking of time, this is one benefit of freelancing that can’t be ignored: the ability to take charge of your own schedule. Freelancers can determine every detail of their calendar, from the hours that they work per day all the way down to the days they work. In Upwork’s 2019 Freelancing in America report, researchers found that a huge 79% of full-time freelancers went freelance in order to have flexibility in their schedules.

That isn’t to say that a flexible timetable is an excuse to slack off: most freelancers work hard and know to hustle. However, it does mean that you have an unprecedented degree of control over your time and that you can create an agenda that works with personal habits and helps you achieve work-life balance.

4. Freedom to choose your own clients and projects

Being able to pick and choose your own projects may seem like a far-fetched dream when you’re holding down a corporate job, but it’s actually a reality for all freelancers.

Gone are the days of being handed unwanted assignments from above — instead, freelancing allows you to pursue projects that actually interest you. (Freelance editors on a marketplace, for instance, can decide which books they’d like to edit, depending on the genre and author of the book.) This perk is often underrated, but it’s no less important when it comes to how much you actually enjoy your work.

5. Hone your craft

And if you start freelancing today, prepare to be wowed by how much your own skills will improve a year down the line. Freelancers are masters of their craft by necessity: they have to be good at the skills that they offer in order to make a living. If Malcolm Gladwell claims that it takes 10,000 hours to perfect a skillset, freelancers end up doubling that. It’s a double benefit: freelancing offers a way for you to hone this craft that you love — and then sell it.

6. Control your rates

Making money might be the most uncertain part of being a freelancer. On the one hand, your income stream is far from reliable when you’re a freelancer. On the other, you have the power to control your own rates — a benefit that shouldn’t be underestimated, especially when you become more established in the industry and can charge more for your services.

That said, it’s tricky to strike the right balance at the beginning. If you charge too much, you might scare off the client. But charging too little means that you risk signing up to work on a project that doesn’t pay you what you’re worth. At this stage, it’s best to familiarize yourself with the average rates in your niche and speak with fellow freelancers: this will help you get a better grasp of where to position your own rates.

7. Opportunity to earn more

While it is an uphill battle to make money when you first start freelancing, it is a proven fact that established freelancers earn more than the average American. Skilled freelancers earn a median rate of $28 an hour, which is a higher rate than 70% of workers in the overall U.S. economy. One of the keys to a higher payout? Freelancers can maintain multiple income streams. An experienced writer, for instance, can help clients out with anything from content creation and copywriting to ghostwriting jobs.

8. Productivity

Ever hit a wall in productivity at work? Writers call it a writer’s block: that stretch of time when inspiration dries up and they can’t manage to get a single good word onto the page. But it applies to workers of all kinds — on some days, you’ll get a lot of work done, and on others, you’ll find that you just can’t produce anything at work.

Needless to say, the science behind productivity is complicated. One thing that studies have proven, however, is that different people are productive at different times of day.  Some might be more productive in the morning, while others might find that they work best at night. It depends on the person, and every expert will tell you that it’s best to work during your peak productivity hours.

Because of the flexible schedule that freelancing grants you, taking advantage of this suddenly becomes possible. “All times of day are not created equal,” says Daniel Pink, author of When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing — but freelancing can balance it out for you much more.

9. Work that fulfills you

Beyond the much-touted catchphrase of “freedom” that freelancing allows, there’s the sense of fulfillment that comes with the work. Nearly all freelancers love the work that they do, and that in and of itself makes freelancing worth it. According to Upwork’s 2019 Freelancing in America Report, 71% of full-time freelancers reported that they started freelancing because they wanted to pursue work that they’re passionate about or find meaningful. And here’s the clincher: over half of the freelancers surveyed said that no amount of money would compel them to switch back to traditional employment.

10. You are your own boss

Finally, this is the overarching benefit for many an aspiring freelancer. When you freelance, you are your own boss, and that’s not an exaggeration. You get to call all of the shots, from your work schedule and vacation time to the projects that you take on. This newfound power over your future can be exhilarating — and, for many, it’s what makes freelancing truly worth it. If that prospect sounds exciting to you, chances are you may also take to life as a freelancer. Good luck!

Desiree Villena is a freelancer and writer with Reedsy, a marketplace that connects authors and publishers with the world’s best editors, designers, and marketers. In her spare time, Desiree enjoys reading contemporary fiction and writing short stories — and definitely takes advantage of her flexible work schedule to write when inspiration strikes.

How to Start a Career in Copywriting: Freelance or In-House

Quality content is in high demand. On the bus, at the gas station, or browsing Facebook, we’re surrounded by content.

Companies want to break through all the “noise” to reach their target audience, and that means quality copywriters are in high demand.

If you have a flair for writing, copywriting is an excellent way to make money from your passion.

When you’re starting out, it can be difficult to decide whether to work in-house or go freelance. The right answer depends on your own personal situation and can change over the years.

Those looking for flexibility or who need to gain experience may prefer to start out freelance. You can tackle freelance assignments while holding a day job if you’re still testing the waters.

For those with more experience, or who want to work for a particular company, in-house writing can offer stability and a chance to master the art of writing for a particular field.

Companies hire copywriters for a wide range of projects, including:

• Website content
• Brochures
• Radio ads
• Facebook posts
• Scripts for salespeople
• Press releases

Working In-House as a Writer

The most obvious benefit of working as an in-house writer is a steady paycheck. You can eliminate the constant hunt for new clients and instead focus on your writing.

Typically you’ll work on a set schedule, though there can be some flexibility. You’ll also gain access to any benefits or perks the company offers.

This reliability is what attracts many writers, especially those with a family to support.

You’ll also have more time to focus on your craft and dive deep into the company’s branding.

As a freelancer juggling multiple clients, you may not get as much time as you’d like to spend on fine-tuning your skills in a specific field.

Yet an in-house job has its downsides too. Your schedule, even when working remotely, is likely less flexible than that of a freelancer.

You work for a set pay rate, which means you can’t raise your prices on more detailed pieces.

Also, you should factor in the time and cost of commuting to work and needing to own something fancier than a set of pajamas to work in!

Cutting Corporate Ties and Going Freelance

The freelance life is both exhilarating and a little scary. Many of the cons of working in-house become benefits for freelance writers.

You can set your own schedule, charge what you’re worth, and tackle a variety of projects from multiple clients.

Freelancing is excellent for parents, night-owls, and anyone who needs to set a schedule different from the traditional Monday to Friday, 9-to-5.

You’ll be working from home, so make sure you know how to set up your work hours, tech and learn what you need to be efficient at home.

Freelance writers can explore a variety of projects ranging from how-to articles to ghostwriting books. The subjects you can write about are limited only by your willingness to research!

However, working contract to contract can have downsides too.

Your volume of work may fluctuate throughout the year, and you’ll have to take care of securing your own health insurance and retirement savings account.

Your schedule will still depend on your clients’ availability to some degree.

Preparing for a Career in Writing

Regardless of whether you choose in-house, freelance, or a mixture of both, there are several steps you can take to start your copywriting career on the right foot.

1. Create a Plan of Action

Much like a business plan, a plan of action is a document that outlines who you are, what services you’ll offer, and how you’ll find clients.

Putting it on paper will help you focus on what assignments to accept or reject, how much to charge, and whether freelance or in-house copywriting is the best first step toward your goals.

Include important details such as:

• How much you both want to work and are realistically able to.
• Subjects and article types you prefer to work on.
• Potential clients and networking contacts who may know of job openings.
• Rates you plan to charge and what you need to earn per month to pay the bills.

2. Build Your Portfolio

Your portfolio is your golden ticket to any job, whether in-house or contract.

If you have already done copywriting work before then those pieces are an excellent place to start.

If you are just starting out, there are many ways to quickly build an impressive portfolio:

• Either by ghostwriting for another blog or starting your own, blogging lets you show off your writing skills and your creativity. Once you’ve launched your writing career, you can still maintain your blog to earn passive income on the side.
• On Spec Writing. Writing “on spec”, short for speculation, means writing before you have a paid offer for your work. This could be a fiction piece you want to submit for publication or a nonfiction article you plan to pitch to a magazine.
  Even if an editor doesn’t buy your piece, you can use it to build your portfolio.
• Cheap or free services. While no one likes working for little to no pay, offering your services as a one-time deal can help quickly build a portfolio of pieces. Check with family members, friends, and local non-profit organizations to see who needs your skills.

3. Grow Your Skills

Thanks to the internet and local libraries, you can learn almost anything without spending a dollar.

Seek out free online courses in writing as well as books and articles on copywriting.

There’s also plenty of paid courses, but you might want to wait a bit with those, as they are rather pricey – from $600 to $1000 usually.

Practice what you learn by incorporating your new skills into your next article. Many websites offer freelance writing gigs, and while they may not pay highly, it builds your experience.

Learning to work remotely is a crucial skill for writers.

Whether you work from home full-time or only on occasion, you’ll need some tech knowledge about cloud computing to be able to maximize your efficiency as a writer.

Learning how the cloud improves your remote work and what benefits it brings will help you be ahead of the competition.

Whatever path you choose as a writer, never stop learning and practicing.

The more assignments you complete, the more opportunities you’ll have to take on bigger and better-paying gigs.

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Joe Peters is a Baltimore-based freelance writer and an ultimate techie. When he is not working his magic as a marketing consultant, this incurable tech junkie devours the news on the latest gadgets and binge-watches his favorite TV shows. Follow him on @bmorepeters

Making Negative Reviews Work for You

When it comes to running a business, online exposure is huge. With 57% of people only going to businesses that have at least four stars, positive online reviews are especially important. 

So, what are you to do about those negative reviews that inevitably crop up? Are those the end of your business as you know it, or is there any silver lining? Fortunately, these reviews can sometimes be golden opportunities to let your business shine. First, let’s look at the importance of online reviews.

Why Online Reviews Matter

There was a time when businesses could get away with running local ads in their paper or having someone with a sign stand on the corner. While those elements still play into your overall marketing strategy, online reviews are a must in this day and age.

While online reviews have a number of perks, some of the primary reasons you need them are: 

• Consumers trust online reviews: When it comes to those 18-34, 91% of consumers trust online reviews as if they were a personal recommendation. No matter your target audience online reviews are important, but they’re especially important if you’re targeting Gen Z and Millennials.
• Online reviews are essentially free advertising: With so many people reading and trusting online reviews, online reviews are basically free advertising. What’s more, online reviews can translate into word of mouth as well, further helping your brand.
• Reviews influence how people see your brand: For those unaware of your brand or without personal experience with your company, reviews play a huge role in their perception of your brand. Tons of positive reviews can give people a great first impression, while the same is true for negative reviews.

Navigating Negative Reviews

With all the importance surrounding reviews, negative feedback is likely sounding like the last thing you’d want. In reality, there is a little bit of silver lining to negative reviews. While you ideally want glowing reviews for your company, negative reviews can help by:

• Humanizing your brand: Positive reviews are great, but having only positive reviews can also lead people to question whether or not your reviews are fake. Some negative reviews, while a little painful, can signify that you are only human and your brand isn’t perfect.
• Giving you a chance to prove yourself: Replying to negative reviews, in kind, can help you prove yourself and show the customer that you’re fully vested in them having a great experience. In some cases, you might even salvage that review and win the customer back over.
• Showing to others you care: If you take the time to leave personal replies to negative reviews, you’re showing to potential customers that you’re a brand that cares. Absolutely avoid using any kind of canned response though, as those can do more harm than good in many cases.

Online reviews come in all shapes and sizes, from all kinds of people. No two reviews will be the same, but fortunately, there are some common threads when it comes to negative reviews. To help you navigate negative reviews, Fundera has created several personas that align with negative reviews. Use the below visual to learn how to make negative reviews work for you!

Infographic courtesy of www.fundera.com

Article by Meredith Wood, Editor-in-Chief at Fundera:
Meredith Wood is the editor-in-chief at Fundera. She has specialized in financial advice for small business owners for almost a decade, and is sought out frequently for her expertise in small business lending. Meredith’s advice has appeared in the SBA, SCORE, Yahoo!, Amex OPEN Forum, Fox Business, American Banker, Small Business Trends, and more.

Marcus Clarke has a blog at Psysci.co.uk that blends psychology and science to deliver interesting insights on  why we do the things we do (he also has some fantastic riddles/brain twisters that are fun and funny). He offered to share an article he’d written about influencing prospects and customers, and we thought this would be a good fit to share with the Brandscaping audience:

Marketing Psychology: 7 Strategies to Influence Consumers

Marketing and psychology are unlikely partners that allow businesses to utilize techniques from both fields in order to influence customers into buying products or services. Psychology allows a greater understanding into human behaviour, which in turn allows for marketing practices which apply the theory of human inclination and tendencies to real-world applications for various reasons. An underlying principle to successful marketing is the ability to influence consumers. Below are seven strategies to influence consumers in ways that are rooted in fundamental principles of human psychology.

1. Appeal to their emotions

Products that are shown as having the potential to improve one’s life are typically favoured over products that are advertised as serving a certain function. This blog post explains the effect of various emotions on our brain and how these can be used to appeal to a consumer’s ability to make decisions. In short, the use of marketing to evoke an emotional response – particularly strong feelings of happiness or sadness –can go a long way in influencing a consumer to buy your product or service.

2. Convince customers that you are meeting a need of theirs

Another strategy to influence consumers is by convincing them that you are meeting a need of theirs. Products advertised as durable, good quality and useful are more likely to attract the attention of consumers who are weary of wasting their hard-earned money on products that do not meet their needs.

3. Grab the customer’s attention

In today’s age of social media marketing, it can be difficult to grab the consumer’s attention amidst the overwhelming amount of information and visuals. By committing to high-quality content and strategies, such as effective distribution of marketing materials and subtle branding that again appeals to emotions, businesses can ensure their product or service stands out heads above their competition in influencing the consumers.

4. Appeal to their sense of compliance

Cognitive dissonance occurs in a situation where conflicting behaviours, attitudes or beliefs arise. This produces feelings of discomfort, which then leads to people feeling a need to alter their attitude or behaviour in order to restore control. Once customers have committed to a product or organization, they are forced to continue demonstrating their commitment or face the inner conflict of not following through with a commitment. When applied to marketing, cognitive dissonance can be used to influence customers by getting them to commit to small requests such as filling out a form, subscribing to a mailing list or following the brand or product on social media. This initial commitment encourages further obligations and more sales in the future.

5. Frequency

Believe it or not, the principle of influencing consumers through sheer overload has been around since as early as 1885. Although quality content and subtlety in advertising can be very effective, this age-old method of inundating marketing platforms such as billboards, television and magazine advertisements, and even radio can be very effective in influencing consumers – see Thomas Smith’s advertising frequency theory of 1885 that satirically describes the psychology behind this marketing technique that still holds true today.

6. Reciprocity

Regan’s reciprocity experiment is another marketing technique that emphasises the human inclination to feel indebted when things are given to them. Reciprocal behaviour applies to many aspects of human interaction – especially to relationships and business practices – and can be very effective in influencing consumers. For example, techniques such as free samples encourage consumers to return the favour by staying loyal to the product or service while also sharing the value they gain with other potential customers.

7. Conformity

Social pressure in group settings has been known to influence people into conforming to the majority opinion even when they disagree. The Solomon Asch experiment proves this tendency by showing that most participants imitate the opinion of the majority even when they are aware of the fact that it is the incorrect choice. In terms of marketing, the psychology of conformity implies that large numbers of Facebook fans, Twitter followers and even customer testimonials lend a product or service a certain sense of credibility and influence.

In conclusion, principles of psychology including conformity, human nature and emotion, reciprocity and compliance can be used in marketing to generate a greater measure of influence over both existing and potential consumers. Research shows that the potential of marketing techniques with psychological reasoning remain paramount to creating a lasting and significant influence over consumers.

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Marcus has a degree in psychology, a master’s degree in health psychology and has worked within the NHS as well as private organisations. Marcus started psysci a psychology and science blog in order to disseminate research into bitesize, meaningful and helpful resources that are interesting and insightful and often help people on the right track to improving their lives.